Is There Even A Point Searching For A Companion For Female Cats?

[Elfilou]

I love my kitty and always make sure to provide plenty of (food)toys, leashed walks, interactive time, climbing and hiding spaces, vet visits, yada yada - I try my hardest to make her life as eventful as possible.

I would love another cat both for me and for her but I keep going back and forth with myself on whether to or not.

What holds me back most is that I keep reading, on this forum and of course I know it's a generalisation, "female cats are known not to be friendly, males are buddies but females are not", haha. Does that mean that females, in your opinion, just do better alone?

I would like to add that on our walks Elfie does interact with neighbor cats and she seems interested and friendly. She gets in their personal space a bit too much for their comfort but that's about it. There's even some touching noses with this one neighbor cat.

Lastly, I know I'm over-thinking haha! I just don't want to take the decision lightly. I am committed to my kitty and would be to the next as well.

Thanks for reading and here's a picture cause we all get on this website cause we love looking at cats, right?

 

[Columbine]

I think it depends very much on the individual cat, and on how well you match her up with her prospective new friend. When I got Asha I already had an older boy cat, Shadow. Asha ended up absolutely adoring him, and I think she still misses him (he passed at the beginning of 2017).

We got a pair of boy kittens in the summer of 2017, hoping that they'd be friends for Asha as well as wanting new life in the house for ourselves. Asha really doesn't like these new boys at all. The best that I can say is that she tolerates them. So, it really does go on individual personalities rather than generalisations. If you decide to get a second cat, it has to be for you too, and you have to accept that Elfie and the new kitty may never be best friends (or indeed do more than tolerate each other).
Your Second Cat: How To Choose The Best Friend For Kitty

 

[duckpond]

I think even spayed female cats may be a bit more territorial than male cats that have been neutered.

We started out with one little black female. She followed us around all the time, like she was lonely. So we got the little white female so she would have a friend. the white one was a 6/8 week old rescue from the shelter, no mom. Our black female took to her right away, she took over the job of mom. It was so sweet They still get along great, no issues. The black cat still acts like mom, for my whole bunch

Then a year or so after those two girls we ended up with two rescue males. one full grown and one kitten. The kitten was accepted by the two girls immediately. The grown male took a few months. Now they all play and cuddle up, i cant imagine any of them being only cats now.

I think kittens are often easier for a grown cat to accept. And my girls get along fine, but they do each seem to have one of the males they enjoy playing with more. The guys could care less, they are both easy going. I do think sometimes female cats find it easier to share space with a neutered male, than another female.

As your cat seems to interact with the neighborhood cats i would take that as a good sign. She might do quite well with a friend

 

[Katie M]

It depends on the individual. Selene arrived *after* Charlie, but she's very friendly, and they've bonded in an incredibly short amount of time.

My stepsister's cat, on the other hand, absolutely HATED Charlie. All he wanted to do was play, but she was nothing but hostile. We were rather taken aback by it, because she's so good with people.

 

[lacy2000]

I have an older female and a younger male I adopted when he was a kitten. It did take a few months for them to like each other and become "friends" but there were never any fights or serious issues. They still aren't very close, but she will tolerate him licking her and sleeping next to her.

My neighbor also had an older female and adopted a female kitten. It took them about a month to become friends, but now they love each other. Cuddling and everything!

Obviously this isn't how every pair of cats will react to each other, but I thought I'd give some success stories of older female accepting a kitten.

 

[susanm9006]

I have always had only female cats and most adapted well to a new cat in the house. My first cat was around three when we added a stray and from the minute they met they were best buddies. It doesn’t always work that way but it depends on the cat. My experience is the older the cat is the longer it takes them to adjust to a newcomer.

 

[Kieka]

I have a female who joined our family with two boys. She absolutely loves her brothers and they love her back. That said she has no time for cats outside of our family. I know I cannot add any other cats into our family.

Every cat is different. From what you've said, I would give it a shot.

 

[danteshuman]

I had 2 females that loved the other 3 neutered boys that were there when we found the female kittens. One of the female kittens grew up & became the older cat/ She tolerated 2 of the new males in her life and hated my bulling punk male cat. Granted the punk bully male & one of the males came into her life as adults.

 

[Elfilou]

Thanks for all the positive stories you guys! Very interesting to read and different from what I usually read about female cats. Made me feel much more positive about going into this experience. I'm going to think on it a bit more but I will probably have to look into some type of fostering, maybe!

 

[Timmer]

I agree with most of the others, depends on the personality of the cat but that also means for it to work, the new cat has to be just as open. I had a cat for years and took in another female that had been a stray. After clearing her with the vet, we basically threw the two cats together and after sniffing and some quiet hissing they were fine. No slow introductions at all for us.

Then years later, I adopted two girl cats and brought them home at the same time. It was useless trying to do a slow intro because they both broke out of their rooms. One cat had lived in a house before because she was surrendered. She knew what living in a house was all about. The other cat I suspect had some feral blood in her -- I don't know where she came from -- and she spent about two days on the dining room table hissing. When she realized the other female couldn't have cared less, she got down and they lived a nice existence together.

When the one female died, I got a male. The male and my little female never got along. I had to keep them separated for 8 years. One lived upstairs and one downstairs. That's no way to live, let me tell you, but we did it.

I'm debating now whether to get another cat, kind of in the same boat as you. My male cat died and he was the love of my life. I think I will probably stick with my one female and not get another, simply because she had such a tortured life with him. She's 14 now and I want her last years to be peaceful.